Economic Lessons from the Mandalorian
Three lessons from a galaxy far, far away
The Star Wars Universe provides many economic lessons including from the Disney TV show, The Mandalorian. In honor of The Mandalorian and Grogu dropping this weekend, here are a few videos that can help you learn economics.
The three clips described below, and many more, can be found on the website I co-built with Ben Smith and Bailey Hackenberry, Economics of Star Wars. For each of these clips, I’ve copied a short description into this post but you can find more by going to our website.
Nevarro sees Economic Growth
In Season 1 of The Mandalorian, we see Nevarro, a barren planet with crumbling institutions; however, in Season 2 after Mando, Cara, and Grief retake the planet and establish institutions, Nevarro is unrecognizable. There are multiple changes implemented to the planet that allow for economic growth – this is representative of less developed countries that experience economic growth.
According to Nobel Prize-winning economist, Douglass North, “Institutions are the rules of the game in a society or, more formally, are the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction”… essentially they are a set of constraints that impact human incentives. Examples of institutions seen in the clip that are imperative for economic growth revolve around property rights, legal systems, and political systems. Property rights determine how resources can be owned by individuals or organizations and help encourage entrepreneurship, or taking on additional risk to start a business.
Mando Trades with Tusken Raiders and the Citizens of Mos Pelgo
The Tusken Raiders and the citizens of Mos Pelgo don’t like each other because of a long history of violent conflict; however, they decide to engage in a trade that both sides think will make them better off. In this case, it is to eliminate a Krayt Dragon, but their agreement is similar to what happens with international trade – trades don’t happen unless both sides feel like they are better off because of the exchange. Read more here.
Mando Joins a Team
Mando joins a team to rescue a prisoner and each member of the team has a different set of skills to help in this mission. This is an example of specialization, specifically labor specialization …
For more, watch the video or read more here.
Economics is Everywhere, even in a galaxy far, far away
Check out more Mandalorian clips that can teach economics here.